


Shattered

by alizrak



Series: Last Known Trajectory [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Alderaan, Angst, Bad News, Death Star, angry smol cowboi, eliweek 2018, prompt, things got dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:39:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22957297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alizrak/pseuds/alizrak
Summary: “Eli, if you are listening to this message it means something unexpected has happened to me. Attached to this transmission you will find an encrypted file with the access codes to my network of spies throughout the Empire and the Rebellion. I’m certain you will be able to decrypt it and put good use to them to further whatever mission you desire. I wish you the best.”After months of trying to find Thrawn in the middle of nowhere, Eli receives more bad news.((Set before Chapter 5 of Last Known Trajectory. This is an old prompt I did for Eli Week back in 2018. I decided to upload it as it directly ties in with the rest of the story. ))
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo & Eli Vanto
Series: Last Known Trajectory [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649764
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	Shattered

_“Eli, if you are listening to this message it means something unexpected has happened to me. Attached to this transmission you will find an encrypted file with the access codes to my network of spies throughout the Empire and the Rebellion. I’m certain you will be able to decrypt it and put good use to them to further whatever mission you desire. I wish you the best.”_

Eli had read the message many times until something clicked in his head telling him this was in fact real. He had rushed to decrypt the access codes and used the secret signal relay that had allowed him and Ar'alani to stay in contact with Thrawn over the last two years to contact the spies. Eli soon realized most of them had no idea who they were reporting too. The majority just logged short, raw data and logs… data only a trained eye like his or Thrawn would be able to understand. Arrival dates of ships, supplies, serial numbers, sightings of Rebel ships. Others were simply collecting news, reports, official statements, rumors… and a few others were actually infiltrators or contacts within the Rebellion or in the criminal underworld.

The communication with these contacts was limited. He could request a particular subject of the information to focus on but there were no true two-way conversations.

Eli put the spies to work in the only way he needed them right now and logged his first request: Lothal/Grand Admiral Thrawn.

A few hours later the reports started to flow in and, at first, he had trouble following them… but one piece of information in particular made him raise an eyebrow in confusion.

 _Purrgils?_ Eli thought in disbelief. He knew purrgils. He knew purrgils all too well. As part of a tradition of merchants and explorers, the creatures were a constant danger to his people, especially farther away you moved from the Core Worlds. Was this really what had destroyed the 7th fleet? It still made no sense.

He informed Arlani immediately. He needed to go back and learn what happened and find Thrawn… but the Council of Families denied his request. He was first to collect all data and then they would make a decision according to that.

He had spent the following weeks gathering every detail, every rumor, every name and report the spies could get him and finally had the luck of getting a holovid of the incident. He was stunned. Hands shaking. It was true. The purrgils had taken Thrawn. And the Empire considered him dead.

Eli had pulled all the information, all studies from both the Republic and the Ascendancy about the behavior, the migration patterns, habits, *everything*. He had made all the projections he could from their last known trajectory route to narrow down the search area.

Then the Aristocra had given him a Chiss standard year to find Thrawn before they too considered him dead. Eli needed to do this himself. He couldn’t let anyone handle this, he had convinced Ar'alani. Eli was thorough with the scans, meticulously sweeping each system, even entering the atmosphere on habitable planets and flying low to ensure the sensor picked up everything. But so far he had found nothing. He had been looking for 290 days out of 462... time was running out.

A beep on his datapad startled him. He looked at the screen showing the word "eat". He sighed. He found himself in need to put alarms to avoid collapsing from overworking, making sure he was well fed and sleeping enough.

He headed almost mechanically to the small kitchenette of the ship, took a ration, brewed some more caf (actually the last of what he had brought with him) and went back to his seat in the cockpit. Just before he gave the first bite out of his nutrition bar ration he remembered he hadn’t checked the spy reports from yesterday. He massaged his temple and sighed again, touching the datapad and synched to the spy network.

Even though he had acquired all the info he could get from the Lothal Incident, he still made sure to look through the reports of both Imperial and Rebel activity, news, supply logs, rumors. Thrawn would expect nothing less. He scrolled through the top of the list reading a variety of subjects on the titles… some attack here, some mining accident there…

[Senate dissolved]

 _Woah._ Eli blinked grimacing. He had done it. The Emperor had finally got rid of them. He shuddered to think that all pretense was dropped... Emperor Palpatine was already the highest authority but now his rule would be absolute. Eli shook his head with a sigh. Things would only go downhill from there, he feared but kept scrolling.

But then, he stopped midway through. A subject suddenly repeated itself in all the following messages.

[ALDERAAN]

Eli frowned confused. Did the signal relay have an encryption bug? He opened the first message and simply read…

[Alderaan destroyed]

Destroyed? Destroyed what? Eli scowled. The spies weren’t usually this clumsy with their messages. He opened the next one.

[Alderaan was destroyed.]

He stopped. Stared at the message for several seconds. Did they meant… the planet? Alderaan?

He quickly jumped to the next message. The same.

At first, there was no more information, given the timestamps so close to each other.

Eli had a sinking feeling in his stomach. No. This must be something else. After official statements finally came in, he could tell they were well just worded kraypt spit. Then his blood ran cold reading the next subject.

[Death Star.]

No. It couldn’t be. They wouldn’t-

He couldn’t think. A wave of rage, despair and regret washed over him. He was staring at the stars outside, holding the datapad, his knuckles turning white.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. The Death Star was only going to be an intimidation tool. It wasn’t-… Alderaan. _All those people._

DAMMIT! DAMMIT! Thrawn had convinced him they wouldn’t use it. That he would personally campaign against it… but with him gone and the TIE Defender project scrapped, there had been nothing to steer them away from that abomination.

He felt nausea. This meant the end. The Chiss would not work with a government that destroyed their own planets. They would have to face the threats of the Unknown Regions on their own. The fate of the Galaxy was in jeopardy. He let out a cry full of rage, sorrow and pain, throwing his mug against the cockpit’s door where it shattered.


End file.
